The Weakly Reporter
The Weakly Reporter is a 1944 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. Plot The opening sequence is set to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", and shows the Statue of Liberty and the presidents of Mount Rushmore in wartime garb, such as air raid wardens and civil defense personnel. The second sequence, to the tune of "California, Here I Come", states that Florida loves California "for the duration". Several scenes following, set to the tune of "In My Merry Oldsmobile", deal with the lack of automobile traffic. One of those scenes shows a policeman chasing someone only to zoom out to show a foot chase. The policeman makes a reference to early race car driver Barney Oldfield. To the tune of "Memories", a scene shows a pair of armored car guards carrying a pound of butter, while the next scene shows a lady at a butcher shop asking if the butcher has Porterhouse steak. The butcher replies, "We certainly have, lady" and allows the lady to sniff the beef, then charges her $1.19 for the privilege of sniffing. Then a man is tossing and turning in bed and, to the tune of "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You", discusses the rationing of coffee, both before and after rationing. The sequence after that deals with hoarding, and to the tune of "Yankee Doodle", says about war bonds, "You can't hoard too many of these!" An armed robbery of a jeweler nets an alarm clock. Following sequences deal with feminine intrigue as well as women joining the Army and taking jobs vacated by men who have gone off to war. One "feminine intrigue" scene shows a woman with an accent being affectionate to an American man in front of what appears to be a German castle, saying "I can't go back without them. Please! Please!" The castle is actually on a calendar advertising meat in a butcher shop. The butcher says, "Oh, very well. Here, that will be fifty cents" as he wraps two ham steaks up for the woman. Next are scenes dealing with factory workers building ships, planes and guns faster than they had ever been built before, and features a scene where a female repair person empties her tool box and starts a stalled machine (and the entire factory) with a hairpin. The final scene shows a formally-dressed man standing with a woman (who is holding a bottle of champagne) at an empty dry dock, ready to launch a ship. The woman asks the man, "But, where's the boat?" The man replies, "Just start swinging, lady!" As she swings the bottle of champagne, the ship rises out of nowhere, gets struck by the bottle and launches to the tune of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean". Behind them is a shack marked "Henry J. Kaiser - Private", and from a nail on the shack's door hangs a sign reading "Back in 2 minutes - out to launch". Censorship * When this short aired on Cartoon Network, some of the introductions to the cartoons' gags (which feature Nazis as stick figures) were cut.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-u-z.aspx Notes * This cartoon is a spoof of sacrifices made by those on the home front during World War II. Availability Cartoon Moviestars 2.jpg|(1988) VHS Cartoon Moviestars Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons LT Laserdisc 2.jpg|(1988) LaserDisc Cartoon Moviestars Bugs and Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons lt golden 4.jpg|(1993) LaserDisc The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 4, Side 2: Early Chuck Jones Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6.jpg|(2008) DVD Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc 2 lt passage to marseille dvd.jpg|(2006) DVD Passage to Marseille 1995 Turner dubbed version lt passage to marseille bluray.jpg|(2015) Blu-ray Passage to Marseille restored Gallery extra8900.jpg|Lobby Card References Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:1944 Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones Category:Shorts Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Bea Benaderet Category:Cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger Category:Cartoons in a.a.p. package Category:One-Shot Cartoons Category:Spot Gag Cartoons